By and large, Bill Simmons has gone out of his way to avoid discussing Bronny James throughout his rookie season with the Los Angeles Lakers.
But following LeBron James’ viral confrontation with Stephen A. Smith on Thursday night, the Sports Guy couldn’t help but weigh in.
On the latest episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast, The Ringer founder discussed the current state of NBA media alongside Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis. And unsurprisingly, they started with the showdown between James and Smith, which stemmed over the ESPN star’s comments regarding Bronny’s playing time with the Lakers.
Much like Kevin Love, the trio mocked Smith’s insistence that he hadn’t planned on publicly addressing the altercation until it went viral on Friday morning. But while they poked fun at ESPN’s new $100 million man, they didn’t necessarily side with James either, with Simmons taking issue with the 4-time MVP’s insistence that his son be treated differently by the media than any other NBA player.
“I just feel bad for Bronny. That’s why we haven’t really talked about it that much on this pod,” Simmons said. “He seems like a nice kid. I’ve always heard good things about him And I don’t necessarily think he has to be in this situation. But to expect people not to talk about it is pretty nuts.”
Russillo proceeded to recall the pre-draft discussions regarding the younger James, in which some had even gone as far to suggest that the Lakers pulling strings to draft the USC guard in the second round was actually a good thing.
“It just always felt like it was a really simple explanation: ‘Cause this one gets a uniform,” Russillo said in response to those questioning why the Lakers drafting Bronny was different than other instances of apparent nepotism that are widely accepted. “This is different than, ‘go in the back and be in charge of travel.'”
Simmons and Russillo’s stance is hardly unique, as most seem to agree that there isn’t any reason that Bronny James shouldn’t be talked about the same way any other player in the league would be. Nevertheless, so long as LeBron is confronting media members about it, the subject will remain a topic of conversation — even for personalities like Simmons who have done their best to avoid it.